Very entertaining novel centered around a hangman/executioner/torturer in 17th century Bavaria. While you could consider this an historical novel, it is really a very good mystery that takes place at that time. It involves the death of three children and accusations that the local midwife killed them via witchcraft. The hangman does not believe the allegations and sets out to prove them wrong. In the mean time, he must act upon the allegations by torturing the wrongly accused midwife. To solve the mystery, he is helped by the local physician as well as his daughter. Although the daughter does play a role in the novel, the focus is really on the hangman so the title is somewhat misleading. The novel includes descriptions of 17th century life in Bavaria including love, murder, political intrigue, witchery, and superstitions. I would highly recommend this one and will be looking for the others in the Hangman series.